December 14, 2017

A Reminder to Closely Examine Incoming Email Addresses

Members of ADCI may have gotten an email purportedly from me this morning with a Holiday Greeting in it. DO NOT CLICK THE LINK IN THIS MESSAGE. It is a spam email. As a reminder, the ADCI is encouraging industry stakeholders to closely examine the actual address of all incoming emails. Trojan horse and ransomware viruses can come under the guise of a client, regulator, association, or personal contact. Even if there is an email address that you do recognize, if the email has other addresses that you do not recognize, follow up with the address you know is accurate to confirm the validity of the email.

These viruses can spread throughout an office and company, literally shutting down operations for undetermined periods of time.

Check with your IT service provider for detailed guidance on best preventive practices to minimize virus, spyware, and malware exposure.

Ten ways to help mitigate exposure:

1. Install quality antivirus

2. Install real-time anti-spyware protection

3. Keep anti-malware applications current

4. Perform daily scans

5. Disable auto run

6. Disable image preview in Outlook

7. Don't click on email links or attachments

8. Surf smart

9. Use a hardware based firewall

10. Deploy DNS protection

ADCI
5206 FM 1960 West, Ste. 202 | Houston, TX 77069
Phone: (281) 893-8388 | Fax: (281) 893-5118